Chapter 18 "Look, He Has No Eyes": Rosemary's Baby, 1979

"Look, He Has No Eyes": Rosemary's Baby, 1979 A Hitchcock-like long shot of about two minutes slowly leads the viewer to Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby". It tells the horror story of a "Catholic giving birth to a child of Satan".Horror films made with extremely superb film language will not feel outdated after many years, just like many works of Hitchcock.The same is true when watching "Rosemary's Baby" thirty-four years later, the chilling and unsatisfactory feeling has not been diluted by time in the slightest. The most outstanding thing about the whole film is its layout. Polanski slowly and deeply unfolds the weird events and frightening psychology. The whole process is really amazing aftertaste.The first half of the film tells the story of Rosemary and her husband Guy moving into the old Bradford apartment, a place where all kinds of scary legends have been told, where they met their neighbors - the elderly Castaway couple, and then Desperate to have a child, Rosemary becomes pregnant after a nightmare.Despite the ominous events, it was generally cheerful for Rosemary.But the camera is always moving in the empty big house, no matter the depressing composition or color tone, the audience can't help but feel the existence of evil, and its target is Rosemary's unborn child.

The creation of the strange atmosphere in the first half is more calm than Kubrick's "The Shining", only showing a little coolness and uneasiness in the daily behavior.When Rosemary learns that the Castaways are evil wizards, the pace of the film gradually accelerates in the still cold scenes, and Rosemary's situation becomes more and more dangerous. First, she realizes that her husband has made a deal with the devil, and then finds out My own doctor is also an accomplice of the wizard... We find Rosemary gradually falling into a situation of isolation and helplessness, which is suffocating under the rendering of Polanski.What is even more wonderful is that we are less and less sure whether this is real or Rosemary's own hallucination, or whether Rosemary's excessive danger prevents us from being sure.Because in a horror movie in the usual sense, there should be someone who can save her at this time, but Rosemary doesn't.

Hitchcock's "Psychopath" filmed in 1960 is considered "the first modern horror film" because he completely externalized the inner fear of human beings and showed it on the screen. The same is true of "Rosemary's Baby". Rosemary's fear comes from the worry and anxiety of women during pregnancy, from the alienation of her husband, and also from the loneliness of modern urbanites.This "alone" feeling has dominated all classic horror films from "Psycho" to "The Shining."In other words, the reason why they can make people feel the deep-rooted fear is because they seduce the viewer's inner helplessness that is usually not easy to detect.

"Rosemary's Baby" has a much darker ending, which leaves no light.After Rosemary was forced to give birth to a child, she rocked the crib beside the bed where the demons gathered, and there was a "son of Satan" without pupils lying in it. An inexplicable smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, so "'Hail Mary' The honorific has taken on a whole new meaning."Just when the audience felt cold hands and feet, the film came to an abrupt end... A few months after the film was released, Roman Polanski's wife Tate, who was eight months pregnant, was found lying in a pool of blood in her mansion. Five people including the hostess were killed, and a total of 102 stab wounds were found on the body. , the murderer used her blood to write words such as "Kill the beast" and "Uprising" on the wall.Polanski's own tragic experience provides the most eerie footnote in "Rosemary's Baby".

Yellow chrysanthemums and an island without memories in the Pacific Ocean: Escaping the Redemption of Akara Shawshank, 1979·1995 Speaking of The Shawshank Redemption filmed in 1994 (commonly known as "Stimulus 1995" by fans), it will almost always be a classic in the hearts of movie fans, a timeless topic in movie forums, a bestseller in video stores, and the top three on the IMDB website; "Escape From Alcatraz" (Escape From Alcatraz), produced in 1999, is basically an old thriller that no one knows and no one cares about.Occasionally, I saw this "Prison Break" work starring the veteran movie star Clint Eastwood. What is interesting is that I found that the details are so similar to the former that it can no longer be said that it is just a "reference". ", perhaps it is more appropriate to say that it is a successful "remake" of the former.

First of all, give examples as evidence: it is also a heavily guarded prison (the names all appear in the title); The library and carts that are hidden in the Bible and play an important role, and the lime soil that was also dug out from the trousers when walking... Even the old prison mates have a small pet, and they all have a small pet after the protagonist is in prison. It appeared on the first breakfast in the movie, a bird in the movie, and a mouse in "Escape from Yakara"-the choice of these two pets seems to have revealed the difference in style between the two films. The difference, from performance to implication, is more bright and sensational, while "Escape from Akara" is more black and unassuming.In other words, the prison in "Escape from Akara" is like a real prison.

Whether it is the play or the use of audio-visual language, "Escape from Akara" is more concise, direct, and powerful. The scene of the protagonist Maurice's imprisonment has already explained the problem. It only appeared on a stormy night, and two policemen escorted him. When I came to Akara Island by boat, there was no spectacular scene where the overhead camera moved across the prison.In terms of plot arrangement, "Escape from Yakara" did not deliberately hide the protagonist's attempt and means of escape from prison, but showed the entire escape process in front of the audience bit by bit.The courage and wisdom of the protagonist, as well as the thoroughness and adventure of the plan are more vividly displayed.

"Escape from Akara" also does not overly manage the story and ignore the portrayal of human nature and express people's desire for freedom.But in Maurice, you can't relive even a moment of sunshine and freedom like Andy Dufresne in Sharksburg. There is only darkness in Akara.The old inmate Duo Ke can only use a small yellow chrysanthemum to pin his belief that the iron prison cannot hold him.The ending of "Escape from Alcala" is so idealistic-the warden committed suicide, and Andy and his old friend Reed met on the small island in the Pacific Ocean without memories; The friend who escaped with him disappeared, leaving only the small yellow chrysanthemum by the sea.A simple, realistic, calm and meaningful ending, and we know nothing about Maurice's whereabouts, just like his origin, the only thing that can be concluded is that he is not innocent like Andy or like Rhett. Regret, his yearning for freedom is more simple, almost instinctively simple.